Trip Down South

Last weekend, I had the urge to get into the mountains. I could have gone to this beach to drink margarita's for four days, or lounge around in a small quaint town, but I really felt the need to get into the hills. So Thursday Anna, Eva, and I caught the 6pm ferry out of Wellington. Our plan was to eventually get to Arthur's Pass on the South Island and spend a day or two there. We enjoyed not having an exact set plan so we just went with the flow. We got into Picton around 9pm, quickly checked into a hostel and went for a walk around town. We ended up at an Irish pub that just got awarded the best Guinness in New Zealand! We went home pretty early to get ready for our big weekend. Friday morning we went in search for a car to rent. This is kind of a big deal as in New Zealand you drive on the left side of the road and none of us have ever rented a car before! I put it in my name and gave driving on the wrong side of the road a shot. It was great, I did fineand ended up driving the entire time. I only messed up once driving, when no other cars were around but I did turn on the windshield wipers instead of the blinker many times! Another funny thing about the car was that we couldn't get the radio to work. There was one tape in the car, China Paradise. It was like 80's pop rock to the fullest! It was ridiculous. So we headed out of Picton feeling free and open to whatever came out way, even really bad music.
We drove for about two hours and stopped for a picnic lunch in a nice wooded area. After that, we drove for another two hours then came to the ocean. It was an amazing view from the road and the beach was awesome. We got out and played on the beach and crawled all over these boulders. We all got soaked and had to change clothes in the parking lot. Our attitude for the weekend was so relaxed and carefree we all had fun stripping in the parking lot then heading on our way. We ate constantly on the ride, stopped to buy an adaptor for an Ipod then headed into the mountains by evening time.
We got to Arthur's Pass around 7pm, checked into a hostel where we shared a 8 bed dorm with one girl and the rest guys. We headed over to the one restaurant/bar in town and ate pizza, drank beer and listened to live acoustic music by a guy named Panda! It was a fun night and we became pretty good friends by this point. We laughed a lot at the hostel that night and eventually went to bed at about 12am. We got up at 8am ready to find a hike! We talked to a lady at the DOC (department of conservation) office about what hike we should do and what hutt we should stay in for the night. We settled on the Avalanche Peak/Crow Hutt tramp. It was a pretty serious set up: we had to make sure we had enough food and warmth to last us a week in the wild, we had to cross rivers multiple times, and had to tramp for about 7 hours each day. When we were set with souvenirs and maps we packed our packs and headed for the woods! It was such a great day. The first two or three hours of hiking was in the bush, with great views. Then we got to the tree line and it became so open and broad. It got to be a little scary as we got to the ridge line to make our way up to the peak of the mountain. After many breaks and snacks we got to the peak around 3pm. We ate there and took in the 360 panorama of mountains. There was a glacier to our right and wide open to out left. The mountain was just over 6000ft. Someone said the first days hike is about a 1000m gain. I'm not sure but towards the end it felt like every step was another foot higher.
So we were not entirely sure where to go from the summit but with my expert directional skills I lead the way. We walked along the ridge line for an hour or so until we got to the Scree Slope. This thing was the vain of our existence by the time we were down. It was a high, steep slope made of rocks of all sizes that feel from under your feet as you tried to walk. It was intense, it hurt, but it was funny! It took us about two hours to get down to the river bed that led us to our hutt for the night. We reached the hutt around 7pm and were dead tired. We ate dinner of pb&j and drank the bottle of wine we carried in with us! I was asleep by 9:30 and awoke early by the other 6 trampers in the hutt. We headed out by 8 or so and got ready for our river crossings. We walked along the river bank for two hours and came to a couple of ladies that had stayed in the hutt with us. One was laying in the ground and didn't look good. She had suddenly gotten sick and was too dizzy to walk to move. She was vomiting and had been laying there for two hours. We were told to let the police know as soon as we were out, and they did eventually get air evacuated out later in the day.
So the river we crossed was ice cold and the current pretty strong. We figured we would cross at the least amount of white water and the most shallow possible. It was definitely an experience and we did it! The day ended up being a lot longer than expected. We walked along the low river bed for most of the day. By 2pm or so we found this great spot were the river went along these beautiful cliffs. We decided it was time for a swim. I forgot to say the river was extremely clear. It didn't even look like water was there. When it was deep, it turned to this beautiful blue green. So I had my bathing suit on for the day but the other two stripped naked and went swimming! It was a blast, and went with the whole free atmosphere for the weekend. We finally got to the road around 4pm and tried to hitchhike. It didn't work so we had to walk another 2 hours! By the time we reached the car, I felt like I couldn't life any muscle in my body. We were so tired, so tired. I had blisters all over my feet and was so hungry but had to energy to move. I changed clothes and got behind the wheel and turned up Dave Matthews and was back in action.
We drove for 2 hours to a hostel, had a quick unsatisfying dinner and went to bed. The next day we drove back to Piction, and reluctantly gave up the car. Ten minutes before parking it, we realized we could pull the antena out and make the radio work! Duhh. So we got on the ferry and had a corona to celebrate our great weekend and headed back to Wellington. For the first time in New Zealand I feel like I made some true friends. We all got along so well and feed off of each other. We are all planning on doing another trip sometime soon. The car, the mountain, everything was unbelievable. I felt so great about climbing my first large mountain, I can't wait to do it again!